Glass-furnace



SQRIGHARDS. GLASS FURNACE.

No 15.018. Patented June 3,18563 ra g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL RICHARDS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GLASS-FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 15,018, dated June 3, 1856.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL RICHARDS, of the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Glass-Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, in which Figure 1, is an end view of an ordinary glass furnace with my improvement attached. Fig. 2, is a perspective view of the furnace with the top out off at the line :0 00 of Fig. 1.

In the manufacture of glass it has been customary heretofore to charge the batch or raw material into the pots or crucibles directly through the ring holes. This material consisting of soda, sand, and lime, is introduced at the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere, oftentimes as low as from 15 to 32. The ordinary size of a charge is from 8 to 10,000 pounds of material. It is charged by hand through the ring holes, and occupies 2 or 3 hours during which time the workmen are exposed to the most intense heat. It is therefore a very severe labor. The temperature of the furnace is rapidly and suddenly reduced by this large accession of cold material, and oftentimes the crucibles are cracked.

The nature of my improvement consists in constructing and arranging shelves within the cone of an ordinary glass furnace for the purpose of containing the batch or raw material in order to heat the same to a high temperature before it is introduced into the furnaces, thereby utilizing the otherwise waste heat which would escape at the top of the cone, preventing the breakage of pots, and reducing the labor and time occupied in changing the pots or crucibles.

In the annexed drawings, A, H, represent the body of the ordinary glass furnace.

E, F, G, is the crown or arch of the furnace.

K, K, K, are the series of ring holes in ordinary use.

At L, M, and L, M, two openings are made in the main outside front and rear walls of the furnace. Each of these is furnished with an ordinary hanging door.

N, O, and N, O, are two rods supported by braces extending to the sides of the furnace or by vertical pieces extending to the crown or roof of the furnace E, F, G. These two pieces extend the whole length of the furnace. To these rods or pieces are attached two plates of medium boiler iron It, S, T, and R, S, T, which extend the whole length of the furnace on each side of the crown. The upper surface of these plates of boiler iron form two long shelves to re ceive and contain the raw material preparatory to its being charged into the crucibles or pots. Near the angles of these shelves S and S a series of small holes 2?, t, t, are made, one being immediately over each ringhole. In front of this series of holes on each side a rod to, o, is placed. On this rod a small spout w is hung. This spout w is so constructed that itcan be slid along the rod so as to form at will a communication successively between each of the apertures L, and the corresponding ring-hole K, K, K. The apertures t, t are closed by appropriate slides so as to retain the material at all times except when the pots are to be changed. In order to supply the material into the shelves R S T and R S T, I employ a small rail-car P Q, having flanged wheels to roll along the strips N, O, and N, O. This car is furnished with hanging sides sustained by spring catches so that when the car has been introduced through L, M, or L, M, it can be pushed forward and discharged on to the surface of the shelves R S T and It S T at any desired point. The shelves R S T and R S T can conveniently hold from 8 to 12,000 pounds, or more if desired. The car holds about 1,500 pounds.

The flame and heat from the glass furnace passes out through the ring-holes on each side and then up under theshe'lves R S T and R S T, and finally escapes through the top of the cone as shown by the arrows. The flame and heat thus passing up are com municated to the material accumulated on the shelves and raise the material to a considerable temperature preparatory to its be ing introduced into the pots through the ring holes.

At 12 and 2) two valves extending the whole length of the furnace are placed. These are moved by chains y, y, so as to regulate at pleasure, the amount of draft and to direct the flame against the bottom of the shelves R S T and R S T.

My mode of using my improvement is as follows. The blowing operation. occupies 10 hours, and the melting operation occupies about 20 hours. By means of the rail car the shelves R S T and R S T are al- Ways kept filled With raw material and the charges for the furnace are always drawn oif and placed in the crucibles from these shelves instead of being fed directly into the crucibles as heretofore. By this arrangement the raW material may be heated to from 400 to 800 before it is introduced into the crucibles. Much time Will be saved in the melting operation by reason of the heat thus previously attained by the raw material. The breakage of the pots Will be much diminished, and the amount of labor and exposure endured by the workmen Will be greatly diminshed.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The preparatory deposit of the batch in the cone of an ordinary glass furnace for utilizing the Waste heat in the manner and for the purpose above described.

2. The car P Q arranged and used in combination With said shelves for the purpose as above described.

3. The movable spout for conveying the heated batch from the heating shelves into the crucibles.

SAMUEL RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

H. E. GoWEN, J. H. B. JENKINS. 

